Whitt v Clough Projects

In the Federal Court of Australia, Judge McNab considered a dispute between Mr. Whitt (the applicant) and Clough Projects Pty Ltd (the respondent) concerning superannuation contributions. The applicant sought to recover superannuation payments exceeding the maximum contribution base stipulated by section 19(3) of the *Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992* (Cth) (SGAA). The core of the disagreement lay in the interpretation of the *Clough Projects Pty Ltd Onshore and Offshore Greenfields Agreement 2014* (the Agreement) and whether its provisions for superannuation contributions incorporated the statutory maximum contribution base.

The court was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether the applicant was entitled to superannuation payments calculated on an amount exceeding the maximum contribution base as defined by section 19(3) of the SGAA. Secondly, the court had to ascertain whether the obligation within the Agreement to pay superannuation contributions "in accordance with" the SGAA implicitly incorporated the limitation imposed by the section 19(3) maximum contribution base.

Judge McNab reasoned that the Agreement stipulated that employer-funded superannuation contributions would be made "in accordance with the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992". The court found that this phrase meant that the SGAA, including its limitations, was to be applied. Specifically, the obligation to pay contributions "in accordance with" the SGAA necessarily incorporated the statutory maximum contribution base. Therefore, superannuation contributions could not be paid on earnings above this legislated limit, regardless of the employee's ordinary time earnings or customary work hours as defined in the Agreement. The court concluded that the Agreement did not override the statutory cap on superannuation contributions.